BAFTA Nomination &Tom’s 2nd Last Appearance

Doctor Who BAFTA nomination! Really! The 2005 series of Doctor Who has received a nomination in the Best Drama Series category of the TV BAFTAs!

Excuse me while I catch my breath… The BBC’s Official Doctor Who site has reported that the show is up against “Spooks”, “Shameless” and “Bodies”, as well as being nominated in the Pioneer Audience Award for Best Programme of 2005 against shows such as “Desperate Housewives”, “Bleak House” and “The X Factor”. The awards are presented May 7th.

According to the mailout of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS), Fourth Doctor Who star Tom Baker is to make another final public appearance! While his signing appearance last October was announced as his final public appearance, Tom has been coaxed out of retirement for a Genesis of the Daleks DVD signing event at The Stamp Centre. You can find out more on this event at ScifiCollector.co.uk – apparently Tom was keen to attend if Nyder actor Peter Miles would be in attendance.

Bit of new series stuff: today’s Sun newspaper reports that publicity for the new series will begin following tonight’s Press Launch in Cardiff, while Chris Durie of Middlesbrough texted me on Sunday morning to report that the News of the World “newspaper” carried a photo of the Doctor and Rose kissing. I don’t know anyone else who is able to verify this…

Meanwhile eyeofhorus.org.uk has informed us that the current Doctor Who Magazine (368) confirms the titles of episodes 8 The Impossible Planet and 11 Fear Her.

SFX.co.uk reports that Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss’ sci-fi comedy show Nebulous is returning to BBC Radio 4 on April 5th. The series will also feature appearances by Fifth Doctor Peter Davison and Kate O’Mara (evil Time Lady The Rani).

The Serendipity website reports that presenter Alistair Appleton is appearing in the penultimate episode of the 2006 series. According to his website:

In quite the most exciting TV job he’s ever done, Alistair is set to appear in the penultimate episode of DR WHO this summer! Playing himself he comes to a messy end at the hands of a classic TV baddy. The new series starts at Easter on BBC1.

Which if it tells us anything is that Doctor Who is on at Easter, very probably Saturday 15th. However it doesn’t tell us exactly who Alistair Appleton is…

Finally, ‘Blake’s 7′ star and Doctor Who guest actor Paul Darrow’s autobiography – ‘You’re Him, Aren’t You?’ is available from Big Finish, and you can read a sample chapter on their website.

A long-term Doctor Who fan, Christian grew up watching the show and has early memories of the Graham Williams era. His favourite stories are Inferno, The Seeds of Doom and Human Nature (although The Empty Child, Blink and Utopia all come close). When he’s not bossing around the news team, Christian is a freelance writer specialising in mobile technology and domestic computing, and enjoys classic rock, cooking and spending time in the countryside with his wife and young children. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.